UFC Fight Night 128 results: Justin Willis outlasts Chase Sherman in sometime-slugfest

What started as a potential slobberknocker turned into a solid, if pedestrian, decision win for Justin Willis.

Willis (7-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) topped Chase Sherman (11-5 MMA, 2-4 UFC) with a trio of 29-28 scores. The first round was the best for him, including a big knockdown.

The heavyweight bout was part of the main card of today’s UFC Fight Night 128 event at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. It aired on FS1 following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

The big men swung for the fences right away. Willis caught a Sherman kick 35 seconds in and tried to take him off his feet, but couldn’t. But seconds later, he landed a big left hand that popped Sherman’s head back. Seventy-five seconds in, Willis pounded Sherman with a combination and wobbled him, but stayed patient. He nearly paid for it when Sherman landed a right moments later.

Midway through, Willis landed a kick too low. Sherman got time to recover. But on the restart, Willis took advantage immediately. A massive left hand put Sherman on the canvas. Willis pounced on him and landed big strikes on the ground, but ultimately let Sherman back up. And back on the feet, Sherman tried to mount a rally with kicks and punches of his own. The two kept cracking each other, but Sherman somehow stayed standing.

Sherman looked good early in the second with leg kicks and punches, but Willis threw a quick and heavy combo after that. A left jab cracked Sherman, but shortly after that Sherman put his thumb in Willis’ eye. The fighters were warned after a short break, then kept firing right at each other. With two minutes left, Sherman landed a head kick that was partially blocked, but slipped from his feet. Willis took advantage and got on top and went to work out of Sherman’s guard.

Sherman tied Willis up 90 seconds into the final round, which didn’t feature nearly the amount of near-misses the first two rounds had. Sherman tried to get elbows to land in tight quarters, but it seemed to mostly be about two heavyweights making sure they survived the final five minutes.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 128 results include:

• Justin Willis def. Chase Sherman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• David Branch def. Thiago “Marreta” Santos via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:30
• Aljamain Sterling def. Brett Johns via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Dan Hooker def. Jim Miller via knockout (knee, punch) – Round 1, 3:00
• Ryan LaFlare def. Alex Garcia via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Ricky Simon def. Merab Dvalishvili via TKO – Round 3, 5:00
• Siyar Bahadurzada def. Luan Chagas via knockout (body kick, punch) – Round 2, 2:40
• Corey Anderson def. Patrick Cummins via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
• Tony Martin def. Keita Nakamura via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

For complete covearge of UFC Fight Night 128, check out the UFC Events section of the site.